Tips for New Zumba Instructors

Teaching Zumba can be a daunting task. Even for the seasoned fitness instructor is can be a bit over whelming. I know a few really, really, awesome fitness instructors who took the training but decided they didn’t want to teach Zumba because they found it too stressful. The nice thing about teaching a regular fitness class (kickboxing, step, aerobics, etc.) is you can totally make it up as you go along. If something isn’t working you can easily change it on the fly, you can use any fitness music (assuming it is the proper tempo for the class you are teaching) and you don’t need to have strong musicality skills. Zumba is a different type of beast, and hopefully these tips for new Zumba instructor will be helpful when preparing to teach your first Zumba class!

#1) Know your music

I really can’t stress this enough. Know that song inside and out. Listen to it until you know every bit of it. Are there any pauses, or “quirks” within the song where you need to do something different or special? Does the song repeat predictably each time or does the sequence vary throughout the song? Do you know exactly when the song is going to end? Believe me, if you don’t know your music, your participants will know. Live, breathe and sleep your music. I listen to Zumba music constantly in the car, I’ll choose two or three songs I want to memorize and listen to them over and over until I know them. Luckily I spend a lot of time driving so I get lots of chances to do this

#2) Keep it simple

When you first start out, try to choose as many easy songs as possible. What do I mean by easy songs? They are those songs that repeat predictably and don’t have many “quirks” or pauses. Zumba Mami (Zumba Fitness), Don’t Let Me Down (Zumba Fitness), Zumba He Zumba Ha (by Dj Mam’s), Zumba Samba (by Karmin Shiff), Chori Chori (by Arash), Krazy (by Pitbull), Waka Waka (shakira), Shake it Up (by mara) and Let’s Get Loud (Jennifer Lopez) are all examples of easier songs you could use. In comparison, songs like “Bring it On (Zumba Fitness), Lo Que Paso, Paso (Daddy Yankee) and Con El Pompi Pa’rriba (Mala Fe) all have more quirks, many different song parts and are more difficult to memorize. Do yourself a favour and try to stick to the easier songs. Your brain will thank me.

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Part two of keeping it simple – your choreography. Especially if you are starting your own class and will have many participants that are new to Zumba. Keep your choreography simple to allow your participants a chance to learn the steps. More importantly keep it simple to make it easier on yourself. Even if you are team teaching and only teaching 4 songs your first class, that is still a lot to remember when you are starting out. Keep it simple. Keep it clean, don’t try to be fancy. There is a time for fancy footwork and your first few months of teaching isn’t it. If you have access to pre-choreographed routines (if you are a ZIN member) – use them. I find the live version tends to be more simplistic than the one on one, but know that even still you can simplify the choreography further. Find a song you like, watch both versions and decide which you like or which parts of each you like and develop a routine. Creating routines on your own when starting out is another stressful and aggravating task you don’t need to deal with.

#3) Find the beat

If you don’t think you have any musicality you need to study music. Learn how to find the downbeat and phrases within music. For many this comes naturally, but if it doesn’t come naturally for you it is something you need to learn. Participants instinctively want to move on the downbeat, they may not know that’s what they are doing, but they will notice it feels wrong if you aren’t on the beat. Instructors who follow phrasing and the downbeat are much easier to follow – and as a result tend to be more popular than those who don’t.

#4) Educate yourself

I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue saying it until something changes. Obtaining a license to teach Zumba classes is so easy. Basically you just have to live through the training and you will get your license regardless of how terrible (or awesome) you are. Believe me, I have no ego when it comes to my abilities. I am not even close to being the best instructor out there but trust me, I’ve seen some people who still couldn’t figure out how to do a basic cumbia leaving with their license. It scares me. If you are serious about making Zumba classes a part of your job or income you owe it to yourself and your participants to become a certified fitness instructor (if you aren’t already). The Zumba licensing workshops don’t teach you how to properly warm up or cool down participants. You are not taught how to monitor a room full of people and you are really not even taught how to teach. You’re mostly just taught the basic moves, you do a master class, a few drills and have a lecture or two and that’s about it. There is no testing at all. The dangers of teaching without a working knowledge of the body are many. If nothing else get yourself into as many other types of fitness classes as you can to learn from those instructors. Watch their warm-ups and cool downs, watch how they teach and learn from them.

#5) Keep “Sorry!” to a Minimum

The truth of the matter is – you are going to screw up. Chances are you’ll screw up the first time you teach and you’ll still screw up occasionally after 300 classes. That’s just the way it is. Try to keep the apologies to a minimum during classes, especially with new songs – the participants don’t know you’ve made a mistake, just keep going. I admit I say sorry when I screw up a song that I’ve been doing for ages and my groups know the choreography and do the right thing even though I do the wrong thing, but that’s only because I know they know I’ve made a mistake so I might as well acknowledge it. If you do say you’re sorry, don’t dwell on it, say it and move on. They probably won’t even remember by the end of class.

#6) RELAX

The best way to forget your choreography and music is by stressing too much about it. It’s okay (and good) to get a bit nervous before teaching, but don’t let that nervousness consume you. If you get in front of everyone and forget everything the world won’t end. It’s a fitness class not brain surgery. 10 years from now nobody in the class will remember you messed up, you probably won’t even remember. Relax and try to have fun.

#7) Make your first class a small one

If you have the opportunity, try to make your first class a small class (even if it’s just a “class” of 6-10 of your friends). Find a decent amount of space (maybe someone’s basement) ask some friends to come over and use them as guinea pigs. You can learn a lot from that first class, you can see what works and doesn’t work in a more relaxed setting. You’ll build confidence and as a result will feel more comfortable when you teach your first “real” class.

#8) Be you.

All of us Zumba Instructors have our favourite Zumba instructors. Whether you love Gina, Kass, Lindsey or your local ZES you have a favourite. Don’t try to be them. Be you. Anytime you try to be someone you aren’t you just come across as a watered down sad version of someone you aren’t. Be you. You are the only person you can be authentically. Find your voice, find your style, find your groove and stick to it. Those who like your style will love your classes, and those who don’t – it’s no biggie, they just prefer a different style. We all have different tastes and likes and there is a group of people out there who are looking for YOU – your style, your personality, your energy level – give it to them!

#9) Give 300%.

They say in order for your participants to give 50%, you need to give 300%. The amount of energy you expend as an instructor in unbelievable. Expect to be totally exhausted after teaching your first class. It’s a whole different experience than taking a Zumba class, so prepare yourself for that. Drink lots of water.

#10) Have Fun.

If you try teaching and it sucks all the enjoyment out of Zumba for you – don’t teach. Not everyone is meant to be an instructor. You may find out that it isn’t for you, and that is okay. Maybe you’ll find you love teaching more than participating and that’s good too! There will always be a need for instructors and participants. One can’t exist without the other. Just because you’ve obtained your license don’t mean you have to teach. Give yourself permission to quit teaching if you don’t like it because if you hate teaching your participants will know.

i’m a new instructor and my confident level is not all that out there. i taught small classes but never a big one.i hope my upcoming zumba gold event will be a success. it’s my first time with a new set of market.

Hey this IS a great post! Thank you! And I completely agree with you about becoming certified. It took me almost a year to study for my ACE exam and it was hard…..but we’ll worth it. I know I have a future in instructing because I started out knowing I didn’t know ANYTHING so I have a desire to continually learn. And ACE requires me to keep learning to stay certified! And I love that! I’m going to get a list down of my basic songs and listen to them for a few weeks and then get my girlfriends together for a few pre-class classes!

I swear memorizing the music is the most important difference between teaching regular fitness and Zumba. Once you get the music down, and understand how the routines come together you’ll be golden.

I think I nearly went into cardiac arrest writing my written exam and doing my practical exam for my certification as it was so tough/stressful. But I think that’s the way it should be, the wellbeing of everyone in our class is on our shoulders, and that isn’t something to be taken lightly.

I have been licensed since 9/2011 and I wish I had this then. Regardless of that fact this is still helpful and so good to hear.
As an older ZIN I had to break through a lot of normal stuff but also other stuff which affected my confidence early on. I am finally finding my dance voice and feeling comfortable in my dancing skin.

My advice to newbie’s, of which I still consider myself, is to be patient with yourself. Smile when you dance and have fun.
That being said know your music, know your routines and dance to the music you love.

This is an incredibly well written article for Zumba Instructors new and seasoned. Thank you so much. I will pass it on.
PS I would like to subscribe. Zumba Love, judy

I have been teaching zumba for 6 years and yoga for 10 years now. The best advice for beginners is like you said, to take classes by other instructors. I took several classes before going to yoga school to decide what style I wanted to teach. I also picked up alot of ideas from taking those classes, such as what I liked and what I didn’t like about how the class was taught so that I could incorporate them into my own classes. When I started teaching zumba I was lucky to be able to take classes from Tanya B locally and I loved her style so I tried to copy it and I still use some of her routines. The other advice I have is to be aware of what makes your students happy, especially what music they prefer and cater the class mostly to them, not yourself!

Absolutely. I play lots of songs that I personally don’t care for but my peeps like them so I pretend like they are the best songs ever 😉 I am so crazy jealous that you got to take classes from Tanya, wow that must have been awesome getting to learn from her like that!

Thanks for these tips! I’m going for my Zumba Basic 1 class this coming Sunday, and while I am super excited, I am a nervous wreck at the same time.
Your tips have calmed me down a bit and now I just want to get out there and move!! 🙂

I rarely read blogs (let alone comment on them) but this was RIGHT ON POINT! I got my Zumba B1 license earlier this year and could not agree more…especially with being yourself and knowing your music. Thanks for taking the time to write this and keeping us informed and motivated!

Thank you for the great advice! I have been B1 certified for probably over a year now, but I never had the confidence or the time to put into really teaching myself. Now I have made a friend with a fellow instructor, who has generously allowed me to teach two dances whenever I go to her class. It really has revived my passion for zumba and my determination to become a great instructor.

Of course, I made a few mistakes, and no body in the class smiles back at me, but I smile away, and give it my all. Afterwards, the ladies said they really enjoyed it! So don’t worry if people aren’t smiling at you, they are probably tired, out of breath and trying to figure out the choreography! They haven’t seen it before, so be patient with them and try your best to break it down.

I went to Pro Skills with Donna Giffen and it was great. I still have alot to learn to put it to work, but it really made me focus on my cuing. It’s essential to a fun successful class.

Great tips. Just started myself and I find some decissions difficult to make. For instance, do I face my goup? I also have people in my group who know the choreography just like I do. I can’t flip my choreography yet at this moment, but they neither. I also don’t have mirrors. I haven’t seen an answer to this question, but all the other tips are really very usefull. Thanks.

I love this tips. I’m going to become an instructor in 2 months and really want to lead classes right after course. I’m training at home, listening to music, talking to my best instructor, but this tips are awesome. Oh and I wanna learn from the best instructor so can’t wait to attend masterclass with steve boedt 😉

I’m so glad you found it helpful! And yes, I’m sure Steve will blow your mind! It’s always a different experience when you go from just taking to classes to taking classes and trying to learn that instructor’s tricks and whatnot. I’m amazed every time I go to a master class!

Exactly! The style, sense of humour, tricks and contact with people – everything is different with another instructors. I am also so excited and amazed after masterclasses. What’s the best – october Tanya Beardsley in my country <3

Meet Suzi Fevens:

Suzi is a self employed fitness instructor & blogger living in Nova Scotia, Canada. Her life revolves around yoga, tea, cats, lattes, her family, reading, cupcakes & Doctor Who (not necessarily in that order!)
suzi@confessionsofafitnessinstructor.com